Description
An African American veteran who lost his leg fighting for the Union army salutes an officer in the provost marshals office. In this imaginary scene, the soldier has gone to the office where he initially enlisted to collect his back pay or pension. The artist, Thomas Waterman Wood, painted three canvasses depicting the military life of this particular soldier. The first painting in the series,The Contraband, depicts him as a newly emancipated slave seeking to enlist in the army; the second, The Recruit, portrays him looking proud in his Union uniform; and the third, The Veteran (shown here), pictures him as a disabled veteran.
